Low Popahirum, National Edition (5-7-14)

“State-house speaker Thom Tillis emerged victorious Tuesday evening, capturing over 45 percent of the vote and easily clearing the 40 percent threshold that would have sent him into a July run-off with the second-place finisher. Obstetrician Greg Brannon and Mark Harris, a Baptist pastor, who ran to Tillis’s right, divided the tea-party vote and finished with 27 and 17 percent respectively.” – National Review

“The Obama administration is withholding the full contents of a ‘media strategy’ discussion over a Fox News report on Benghazi, claiming that releasing them would have a chilling effect on their ‘frank deliberations.’ The seven-page email chain was in reference to a Fox News report on Sept. 27, 2012, that the intelligence community knew within 24 hours that Benghazi was a terrorist attack. – Fox News

“But for us the most pressing, curious and disturbing question today remains: Where was the Commander-in-Chief and what was he doing during an eight-hour attack that left four government employees unprotected, abandoned and dead?” – Investor’s Business Daily

“The scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs widened this morning to include two more offices, both in Texas, accused of falsifying records to hide horrendous wait times for medical treatment. Jeremy Schwartz at the Austin American-Statesman reports that a whistleblower within the VA told investigators that he and other employees were verbally ordered to falsely register patient requests so that it appeared that they had to wait very little time for treatment. In fact, the wait times for veterans went to three months in Austin and San Antonio.” – Hot Air

“And it’s why pundits and donors alike are vastly overrating the prospects of two brand-name candidates for 2016—Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush—and undervaluing the reality that the current political environment is as toxic as it’s ever been for lifelong politicians. At the most fundamental level, the next presidential election is shaping up to be a battle of which party can best conquer its demons—whether Republicans can improve their beaten brand, and whether Clinton (or any other Democrat) can present herself as the candidate of change, given the high level of voter dissatisfaction.” – National Journal

“But the evidence tells the tale. It all started last week when former National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Bret Baier of Fox News that Obama was never in the Situation Room at the White House at all that horrific afternoon and evening. But he was, indeed, in the White House during the entire massacre. Where was he, then, if he was in the White House but was not engaged with military brass in the Situation Room attempting to figure out how the ambassador and others could be rescued?” – Examiner.com

“Monica Lewinsky writes in Vanity Fair for the first time about her affair with President Clinton: ‘It’s time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress.’ She also says: ‘I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened.'” – Vanity Fair

“Secret subpoenas. Police raids on consultants holding records of political groups. Suspects kept from contacting attorneys. Federal judge Rudolph Randa brought all this to a screeching halt in Wisconsin yesterday with a sweeping order ending the ‘John Doe’ probe into the recall election of Governor Scott Walker. ‘This cannot square with the First Amendment.’ Randa said of the investigation, and perhaps a few other clauses in the US Constitution as well. – Hot Air

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